Victory over Celtic in the Champions League is now crucial for the Italian
club enduring their worst sequence of domestic results for more than six
years

There are not many circumstances in which a visit to Celtic Park, a notorious European fortress, might seem a relief.

But the players of AC Milan, arriving in Glasgow on Monday ahead of a Champions League fixture with plenty at stake, will appreciate its comforting guarantees.

The ambient hostility will only last a little over 90 minutes, their bus will leave the stadium at more or less the designated hour, and they will probably not have to negotiate their right to leave the arena.

On Saturday, after a 1-1 draw with Genoa extended Milan’s winless Serie A run to five matches, a group of around 300 milanisti gathered around the exit of the VIP parking area at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in San Siro.

Chants of ‘See you outside’ and ‘We’ll meet you at midnight’ during an impotent performance, in which Milan had played 11 against 10 for the last 55 minutes, warned of some sort of direct action. Two hours after the final whistle, the fans were still there, blocking the players’ only route out.

The crowd, supervised by police and security staff, were orderly and defiantly patient, wrapped up against the cold. They had monitored the various statements from senior club figures – “We should not over-dramatise the situation,” urged the vice-president Adriano Galliani; “We need the fans to join with us to move out of this negative situation,” said Massimiliano Allegri, the head coach – but wanted talks.

At one stage Mario Balotelli, the striker whose Jekyll-and-Hyde 10 months at Milan are in a prolonged Hyde phase, appeared keen to speak with the fans. He was discouraged, either by police or club officials.

An alternative delegation was formed. It was headed by the Milan player who enjoys greatest immunity from scorn, Kaka, scorer of the game’s early opener, the prodigal son who returned to the club in the summer from Real Madrid and, after picking up an injury, offered to forsake his salary until he had recovered.

Kaka took with him the oldest member of the squad, goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, who, tall and shaven-headed, brings to a tense stand-off some obvious assets.

Saint Kaka and his 6ft 3in sentry, in suits and ties, spoke briefly and – out of earshot of the media – persuasively with the protesters. As they walked backed to rejoin their colleagues, they were applauded by the fans, who then dispersed, allowing the Milan players to go home. It was a minute to midnight.

If this is to become a turning point for Milan’s season, it will need to be a spectacular one. Their immediate future in the Champions League is at risk – lose at Celtic and they could find themselves at the bottom of Group H – while their worst sequence of domestic results for more than six years, and a position in the bottom half of Serie A, already has Galliani acknowledging that, barring an eighth European Cup victory in May, Milan will probably not be competing in club football’s top competition in 2014-15.

As the curva activists waited, the Milan vice-president appealed to them to put Milan’s so-called ‘crisis’ into context: “Bad years happen to everyone,” Galliani said. “Inter aren’t in the Champions League, Fiorentina are only in the Europa League, and Napoli weren’t in the Champions League last season. Clubs don’t die after a bad year.”

Galliani chose to bracket Milan with their peers, mindful of several factors. Negotiations have started for the next tranche of Serie A television rights, with the league concerned about its relative attractiveness in a competitive global market.

Galliani also sees the next three days looking crucial for Italian football’s status in Europe. Milan’s second spot in Group H is positively healthy compared with the rickety prospects of Juventus, winless and bottom of their group, and even Napoli, up against Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund for a place in the knockouts.

Galliani asked for patience, knowing that, in a less-than-vintage Serie A, stirring recoveries are plausible. Last November, Milan reached the equivalent stage of the campaign with only one point more than the 14 they have now, and looking up at the same gap between them and third place, which carries Champions League qualification.

The transformation last season centred on Balotelli. He joined from Manchester City in January, and swiftly marched Milan up the table, with his dozen goals from 13 games.

Over the last four months, Super Mario has lost his mojo. He slept erratically after the siege of San Siro, if you assume it was he who posted, some five hours after the players had left the stadium, the enigmatic words ‘This is the end’ with a smiley-face emoticon, on his Twitter account.

Balotelli had seen a penalty saved during the game, his second failed spot kick in two months, the second unconverted penalty of the 23 he has taken in a professional career in which sangfroid and accuracy from 12 yards used to be a personal trademark.

This is the end? Of what? Balotelli did not specify. It may well be the temporary end of his penalty-taking duties.

Milan have an excellent candidate to step in, an expert in taking the stately, steady walk towards situations of high-stress and confrontation, and resolving them. They have Saint Kaka.